A rather long flight
by NCIS Jenny167
Summary: My take on what happened on the plane to Paris. Includes a story of Ziva's childhood. Tags to Jetlag. Rated T because of mentions of rape.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own NCIS or any of the characters.**

**Thanks for reading, please review.**

**Jenny :)**

* * *

Tony sighed. As soon as the steward had finished explaining the safety procedures and pointed out the emergency exits, Ziva had pulled out her book and started reading. Much to Tony's annoyance she had been the one to get the seat by the window and he hadn't thought of asking her to trade with him. And he had forgotten to pack his IPod. Great.

So here he was, stuck on an eight-hour flight with nothing to do. The director had booked them an impossibly early flight; their plane had taken off Dulles International Airport at about 1am. He and Ziva had decided to leave for the airport a little earlier than necessary because getting through customs with Ziva and her weapon collection could take a while. He smiled as he remembered Ziva's rather loud argument with the newbie at customs who had been stupid enough to call security because of the variety of arms that he had (surprisingly) found on Ziva. After security had run down the customs area fully armed, Tony and Ziva had shown them their badges. They had all laughed at the customs officer who had blushed deeply and muttered something about that day being his first with the new job and Ziva looking like she could be a terrorist from the Middle East. That, of course, had gotten him into even more trouble with the already unnerved and tired Ziva, reminding him in a not so kindly tone that they had booked a flight _out_ of the country, whereas terrorists tended to _enter_ the country for terroristic acts. "And how many terrorists have you heard of, that travel with Federal Agents? I need my own badge…-" To Tony's relief they had been informed over speakers that their plane was ready for boarding before the argument had gotten out of control.

He started reading the magazine provided by the airline. Eventually he heard a "ding" and looked up just in time to see the light behind the seat-belt symbol go out. When he was done reading, he began observing the people around him. One by one they were starting to doze off, so the steward and the stewardess had their hands full with supplying everyone with a pillow. Watching people sleep was even more boring than the magazine.

He looked at Ziva out of the corner of his eyes. She was reading her book, seemingly not tired at all. Of course her book was in Hebrew, so he couldn't even mock her about the title or anything. How could anyone read those symbols? They looked pretty complicated to him, and reading from the right to the left wasn't anything he thought he would ever be able to get used to. Ziva on the other hand, didn't seem to have any problems at all. He could see her eyes gliding over the pages hungrily.

"What is it, Tony?" She suddenly asked, not taking her eyes off the book. How did she do that? Was it even possible to sense a gaze? It seemed to be. "Uh, I'm bored. Do you mind swapping seats?"

"Not at all, why didn't you say so earlier?" She unbuckled her seat-belt and stood up, waiting for him to let her pass. Tony sat down in her seat, threw a glance out the window and groaned. There was absolutely nothing to see as they were already over the ocean and it was completely dark outside. Why hadn't he thought of that? He noticed Ziva looking at him, clearly amused about something. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing." She said, trying to hide her smile but failing miserably. "It is just that you reminded me of a child bored during class."

"Do I now, huh?" Tony answered, grinning. "And what did little Miss David do in school?"

"Mostly learning, Tony. You should have tried that, maybe it would have helped with your boredom problem."

"Mostly? Now I've got you, David! What else did you do in school? Did you ever get detention?"

"That is none of your business!" Ziva answered, a little too quickly for Tony's liking. He could have sworn he saw a shadow cross her face before she composed herself.

"Whoa, what did you do, stab the headmaster?"

"No. I got into a fight." Ziva sighed. Not telling Tony would mean him getting on her nerves the whole flight about it. Maybe if she told him now she would be able to return to her book later.

"You pulled another girl's hair or what?" Tony asked. Ziva knew he was just provoking her to reveal more.

"No. It's a rater long story."

But of course it would take more than that to make Tony give up.

"Well, Ziva, it _is_ a rather long flight."

Ziva sighed. This was not something she liked to talk about. In fact, if she thought about it, she had never shared the details with anyone.

"I was twelve years old at that time. I was outside, behind the school building during lunch break. It was quiet and I always spent the breaks there. I just walked around the corner of the building when I saw three older boys circling around a girl about my age. At first they were just calling her names but then they started to push her and grab her ass. I walked over and told them to leave her alone-"

"Wait, how old were they?" Tony threw in.

"I think about 16, I'm not sure, I had never noticed them before-"

"You were 12 and stood up against a group of sixteen year old boys? Honestly Ziva, what were you thinking?"

"There were only three of them, Tony, I knew I would be able to take them down if they attacked me. Believe me, unlike you, I do tend to think before I act. And what do you think they would have done to the girl if I hadn't helped?" Ziva answered, struggling to keep her voice down.

Tony saw that he had insulted her.

"I'm sorry Ziva, I didn't mean to insult you. It just didn't occur to me that your father had already had you trained in high school!"

Ziva looked at him intensely for a second, before she sighed and turned away from his glance. "I was able to defend myself way earlier than High School, Tony. I had to be." She didn't seem to have intended for him to hear that last part, so he let it go. Her eyes were glued to a spot further down the aisle, she was clearly lost in her memories.

"So, what happened next? You didn't finish the story." Tony asked, not willing to let the chance to learn something about her past pass that simply.

"Well…"Ziva started. She took her eyes off whatever she had been staring at and leant back in her seat to get more comfortable.

_Ziva walked over to where the three boys were harassing the girl. "Hey!" she shouted, "leave her alone!" The three boys turned around, surprised. But when they saw Ziva standing there, slim and barely reaching their shoulders, they just grinned evilly. "So what do you think you're doing, beautiful?" The biggest one of them asked._

"_As I just told you, idiot, I'm here to help __**her**__!" she spat, jerking her head in the direction of the girl that just stood there, frozen with fear. The boys stared at her for a moment, clearly stunned at her tone. It was obvious that they were not used to being stood up against. But they composed themselves after a few seconds, forgetting about the girl and starting towards Ziva. The girl looked at Ziva and saw her nod her head towards the school. She got the hint and ran away._

"_Don't come near me!" Ziva threatened through gritted teeth. The boys only laughed and kept circling her, like they had with the other girl before. "Oh, don't be like that, darling. We know that you came over here to play with us." One of them grabbed her elbow and tried to pull her closer._

"_Let go of me, or I will crush every bone in your arm!" she warned again. The boy looked at her, amused, and pulled at her elbow again. This time he succeeded and grabbed Ziva roughly._

_That was too much, they had gone too far. Ziva kicked his groin and spun around, pulling his arm with her, so that it was twisted in a painful position. The boy cried out and tried to hit her with his other, still free fist. Ziva ducked out of the way and brought his arm down on her knee hard. When they heard the sound of his bones breaking, the other two that were just trying to grab Ziva, stopped in their tracks, wincing at the sound. The boy howled, pulling his broken arm from Ziva's grip that she had loosened._

_Just in that moment, the sports teacher came around the school building and saw them, dropping his bag and running over._

"_What are you doing? I don't believe it, a fight? Miss David? I demand an explanation!" But before Ziva could answer, the teacher saw the boy holding his arm at a strange position. He eyed Ziva angrily, knowing instantly that only she would have been capable of doing that. He had seen her often enough in Karate class, winning every fight, even if he was sure that she had been holding back most of her skills._

"_That's enough, I cannot believe this! To the headmaster's office, all of you!"_


	2. Chapter 2

"He blamed you for the fight? Seriously? Why didn't you tell him the truth?!" Tony interrupted, earning himself a few annoyed glances from the German couple across the aisle that had jolted awake at his shout.

"Tony, keep it down, please! For all he knew I had been the one to start the fight, because he could not see any damage on me, so he figured that I must have used the element of surprise."

"Right, sorry, uh... entsuldigun…was that the correct word, Ziva?"

"Er meint Entschuldigung, wir wollten Sie nicht aufwecken." Ziva apologised for Tony in German, smiling at the couple who nodded and got comfortable again.

_After getting a lecture of the headmaster, they were all suspended for the rest of the day. Ziva went to her locker and got her things. This was bad. The headmaster would definitely call her father. He wouldn't reach him at home so he would interrupt him at work, which was even worse. Trying not to imagine what kind of punishment would be waiting for her, Ziva took her time to use the bathroom and then exited the school. Break was over and everyone was back in their classes, so the entrance hall and the yard were deserted. Ziva walked quickly, it was better to face her father and get it over with. Rounding a corner, she noticed a dark van, following her slowly. Uh oh… if her father sent agents to pick her up, he must have been in some serious meeting which he would not interrupt again. Judging by their _very un_obvious way to follow her, he had probably sent some stupid rookies. It could not have been more evident that they were not looking for a parking spot. The way they drove with a speed that was a bit slower than her pace… At least she could have fun with them, Ziva thought, and jumped over a garden fence. She ran through someone's backyard and heard the tires squeal behind her. They had definitely _not_ expected _that_! She ducked under a hole in another fence and hid behind a bush. Seconds later the car spun around the next corner, coming to a stop in the middle of the street. They had no idea where she was. Ziva smiled to herself and crept from behind the bushes carefully avoiding to be seen by the agents in the car. She crept around the back and then swiftly slid into the back seat, startling the agents which jumped, spun around and pointed their weapons at her. "You were supposed to pick me up?" She asked, ignoring the angry looks, the two flashed her before they composed themselves and holstered their weapons. They definitely had a lot more to learn!_

_"Yes, Officer David. We have instructions to take you to Mossad headquarters and make sure you stay there until Director David finds the time to deal with you.", the agent in the passenger seat replied while the driver reversed the car and sped in the direction of Tel Aviv's highway. Ziva chuckled at him and how he had stressed the part where they would make her stay. As if they stood a chance…_

_When the car pulled into the underground parking lot of Mossad HQ, Ziva jumped out of the car, mentally sighed and put on her blank face. No feelings visible. They rode the elevator up to the level of her father's office but the secretary informed them that Director David was still in a meeting and wished to be not disturbed. So Ziva sat down on the dark leather couch in the waiting area while the agents positioned themselves on either side of the door. When after half an hour still nothing had changed, Ziva grew impatient. How long did this meeting take? She wanted to get it over with now!_

_After an hour she decided to get herself something to drink from the break-room two floors down. But when she got up and approached the door, one of the agents stepped into her way._

_"Let me through." Ziva demanded, stepping in the man's personal space to intimidate him. She could see that she had succeeded with that when he gulped. He had obviously heard some stories about her…_

_"I have orders to make you stay here, Officer David." He said in a tone that was rather apologetic than convincing._

_"I am thirsty, I was just getting myself something to drink from the break-room. Now let me pass, Officer." When Ziva placed one hand on the doorknob, the agent grabbed her wrist, while the other looked at both of them in alert._

_"I would recommend you take your hand away immediately." Ziva spit, now furious. "I am not taking orders from you! You take your hand away now and let me pass, or I will make you regret it!"_

_Just as the officer was about to answer, the door of the office opened and Eli David and another man came out._

_"You will receive all the details, yes. I will keep you in the loo- Officer David! How often have I told you not to attack my agents! Goodbye, Officer Hadar" He said to the man and opened the door of the waiting area for him, causing the agent still holding Ziva's wrist to jump aside and let go._

_"You two may go now. Thank you. Officer David, into my office. Now!"_

_Ziva walked into her father's office and stopped in front of the desk, like she was supposed to as an Officer. If an outsider would be watching, he would not be able to tell the difference between the treatment the Director of Mossad gave his agents and the one he gave his daughter, his perfect little soldier._

_But as soon as Eli had closed the door behind him, his expression changed. He was no longer the composed Director, he was now the very angry and disappointed father._

_"I take it you know that I have just received a very angry call from your headmaster, informing me that you have started a fight and broke a boy's arm?" He said calmly. Dangerously calm, like the silence before a storm._


End file.
